Previous Year: Short Questions With Answers - The Address | English Class 11 PDF Download

Q. 1. Why did the narrator go to number 46, Marconi Street?
Ans. This was the address of the woman who carried their valuables from her home for safety during war time. So, the narrator went there to claim the belongings of her mother.

Q. 2. How does Mrs. Dorling react when the narrator said, “I am Mrs. S daughter”?
Ans. Mrs. Dorling held her hand on the door as if she wanted to prevent it opening any further. Her face showed no sign of recognition. She kept staring at the narrator without uttering a word.

Q. 3. ‘Her face gave absolutely no sign of recognition.’ Do you think the woman didn’t recognize the narrator, or she was merely pretending? Give reasons for your answer.
Ans. Obviously, the woman was pretending that she didn’t recognize the narrator. As soon as she realized that she has been found out she said, “Have you come back ? I thought that no one had come back.”

Q. 4. How did the woman try to avoid the narrator?
Ans. First, the woman refused to recognize the narrator. When she realized that she had been found out, she regretted that she couldn’t do anything for the narrator. Then she asked the narrator to come another time. She gave the impression that there was someone in the house whom she didn’t want to disturb.

Q. 5. What are the two reasons did the narrator give to explain that she was mistaken?
Ans. She thought that perhaps the woman was not Mrs. Dorling, she had seen her only once, for a brief interval and that many years ago. Secondly, it was probable that she had rung the wrong bell.

Q. 6. How was the narrator convinced that she had made no mistake and had reached the right address?
Ans. When the woman who opened the door give no sign of recognition, the narrator thought she was perhaps mistaken and had rung the wrong bell. When she saw the woman wearing her mother’s green knitted cardigan, she was convinced that she had made no mistake and reached the right address.

Q. 7. Who had given the narrator the address? When and under what circumstance?
Ans. The narrator’s mother had given her the address, years ago during the first half of the war. The narrator came home for a few days and missed various things in the rooms. Then, her mother told her about Mrs. Dorling and gave her the address.

Q. 8. How do you know that there was someone in the house ? What did she ask? How did the woman respond?
Ans. When the narrator was still on the steps, someone stared at her from the bay window. He/She asked what the visitor wanted. The woman replied that it was nothing.

Q. 9. What did the narrator learn about Mrs. Dorling from her mother?
Ans. Mrs. Dorling was an old acquaintance of the narrator’s mother. The latter had not seen her for several years. Then she suddenly turned up and renewed their contact. Whenever she would leave that place she took something from her table silver, antique plates etc.

Q. 10. What reason did Mrs. Dorling give for taking away the precious belongings of narrator’s mother?
Ans. Mrs. Dorling suggested to the narrator’s mother that she should store her belonging at a safer place. She wanted to save all her nice things. She explained that they would lose everything if they have to leave the place.

Q. 11. What did the narrator notice when she came back home for a few days during war? What was her immediate reaction?
Ans. When the narrator came back home for a few days during war, she noticed that something or the other about the rooms had changed. She was surprised to see that various things were missing.

Q. 12. Who was Mrs. Dorling? What did the narrator’s mother tell her about the woman?
Ans. Mrs. Dorling was an old acquaintance of the narrator’s mother whom she had not seen for years. She had recently renewed their contact. Since then she has been visiting their house regularly. Every time she left their house she took something home with her.

Q. 13. Did the narrator feel convinced about the views of her mother regarding Mrs. Dorling? How do you know?
Ans. The narrator did not feel convinced about her mother’s concern for Mrs. Dorling. The latter was keen on removing the precious possessions of the narrator’s mother to her own house. It seems that the narrator did not like Mrs. Dorling’s excessive interest in her mother’s belongings. It is evident from the questions she puts to her mother.

Q. 14. Why didn’t the narrator pay much attention to things around while walking to the station?
Ans. While walking to the station the narrator didn’t pay attention to things around because she did not want to upset herself with the sight of streets and houses which were full of memories from her former life.

Q. 15. Why did the narrator feel the urge to see her mother’s belongings?
Ans. The war was over. Gradually, things became normal again. One day, the narrator felt an urge to see her mother’s belongings which, she thought, must still be at House Number 46 in Marconi Street. She wanted to see those things and feel them.

Q. 16 What did the narrator see as she followed the girl along the passage?
Ans. As the narrator followed the girl along the passage she saw an old fashioned iron candle-holder hanging next to a mirror. It belonged to her mother. They had never used it because it was more difficult to carry a single candlestick.

Q. 17. Why was the narrator horrified when she entered the living room?
Ans. When the narrator entered the living room she was horrified because she felt as if she was in a room she knew and did not know. She found herself in the midst of things she wanted to see again but which distressed her in the strange atmosphere. She was oppressed to see them arranged in a tasteless manner.

Q. 18. “I was in a room I knew and did not know,” says the narrator in the story ‘The Address’. What prompted her to make this observation?
Ans. The narrator found herself in the midst of things she was familiar with and which she did not want to see again. However, she found them in a strange atmosphere where everything was arranged in tasteless way. The ugly furniture and the muggy smell created the feeling that she didn’t know the room.

Q. 19. How was the narrator able to recognize her own familiar woollen tablecloth?
Ans. The narrator first stared at the woollen table cloth. Then she followed the lines of the pattern. She remembered that somewhere there was a burn mark which had not been repaired. At last she found the burn mark on the table cloth. This helped her to recognize her own familiar article.

Q. 20. Why did the narrator wait a long time before going to the address number 46, Marconi Street?
Ans. Initially, after the liberation, she was not at all interested in her mother’s belongings, lying stored there. She was also afraid of being confronted with things that had belonged to her mother, who was now no more.

Q. 21. “You only notice when something is missing.” What does the speaker exactly mean? What examples does she give?
Ans. The speaker says that one gets used to touching one’s lovely things in the house. One hardly looks at them any more. It is only when something is missing that it is noticed either because it is to be repaired or it has been lent to someone.

Q. 22. Why did the narrator suddenly decide to leave?
Ans. The narrator had visited 46, Marconi Street for a specific purpose–to see her mother’s belongings and touch them. However, these objects seemed to have lost their value in strange surroundings and on being served from the life of former times. So, she suddenly decided to leave.

Q. 23. Why did narrator want to forget the address finally? [DDE SQP 2]
Ans. The narrator was eager to take back her mother’s belongings and made some efforts but at last decided to forget the same and move ahead. In fact she had found Mrs Dorling and her daughter using those things as their own. The things had also lost the beauty in a different background. So, she decided to leave the bitter past and start afresh.

Q. 24. “Of all the things I had to forget, that would be the easiest.” What does the speaker mean by ‘that’ ? What is its significance in the story?
Ans. ‘That’ here stands for the address. The words no. 46, Marconi Street’ i.e., the address reoccur throughout the story. The address is important for the narrator at the beginning of the story. However, at the end of the story she resolves to forget it as she wants to break off with the past and move on with the present into the future.